french

Queen of Sheba Cake (Reine de Saba)

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Sometimes I make things simply because the name tickles me, (blue moo pie, hummingbird cake etc).

I heard of this cake when reading about the legendary foodie and promoter of French cuisine, Julia Childs, and decided I had to make it.

This is a single layer cake, and is quite light, unlike some super rich dense chocolate cakes. It’s perfect if you don’t want something too heavy at the end of a meal, but is also delicious with a coffee if you feel the need for a little afternoon pick me up.

This recipe has some rum in it, but if you don’t do alcohol or just don’t like rum you can replace it with 2 tablespoons of strong coffee.

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the meringue

Pinch of Salt

3 Eggs (separate the yolks and whites)

1 Tbsp Sugar

For the cake

115 Grams Butter (Softened)

150 Grams Sugar

115 Grams Dark chocolate (melted)

2 Tbsp Rum, or strong black coffee

25 Grams Ground Almonds

1/4 Tsp Almond extract (optional)

60 Grams Plain Flour

For the decoration

2-3 Tbsp Flaked almonds

60 Grams Dark chocolate (melted)

60 Grams Butter (melted)

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 180 degree (Celsius), and prepare a 9 inch cake tin, but rubbing it with butter and then dusting the inside with a little flour (this will stop your cake sticking to the tin)
  • Add 3 egg whites and a pinch of salt to a bowl, and either in a stand mixer or with an electric whisk, whisk until they start to froth before adding a tablespoon of sugar. Whisk until the egg whites are firm, and you can turn the bowl upside down and the meringue stays in the bowl (be careful doing this so you don’t end up with meringue all over your floor). Set to one side
  • For the cake melt the 115 Grams of chocolate in the microwave, (I use blasts of 30 seconds at a time to make sure the chocolate doesn’t burn), and allow to cool slightly
  • In another bowl, slow whisk the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy, gradually add the egg yolks. Add the slightly cooled chocolate, and then the ground almonds, and flour until well mixed
  • Add 1/3 of the meringue mix to the chocolate mix, and mix in with a spatula, with help loosen the chocolate mix. Add the next 1/3 of the meringue mix and gently fold this into the chocolate mix with a spatula (this will help keep the air in the cake mix to keep it light. Fold in the remaining meringue mix ensuring it is thoroughly folded through before transferring to your prepared cake tin
  • Make for 16 minutes (there should still be a little wobble in the centre) . Allow to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a wire wrack to cool
  • When the cake is cool, toast the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes, keep moving them around so they toast evenly and be careful as they can burn easily.
  • Melt the chocolate and butter for the topping in a bowl in the microwave (try blasts of 30 seconds and stir in between blasts to make sure it melts evenly), mix well when finally melted
  • Pour the chocolate and butter mix over the cake and spread evenly to make sure it runs down the sides evenly (I put a plate under wire wrack to catch any icing that runs of the cake and save mess)
  • Sprinkle the edges and sides of the cake with the toasted almonds (store in an airtight box if not eating immediately)

Cherry Clafoutis

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This is one of the quintessential French desserts and it’s actually quite easy to make.  It’s basically a baked custard/batter with fruit.

Cherries are a traditional, but you can use other fruit like blueberries or apricots.

Straight from the oven, dust with a little icing sugar before serving.

I use frozen cherries that I allowed to thaw. This is mainly because fresh cherries here in Ireland are really expensive, and because the frozen type usually have the stones removed. Purists argue that the cherry stones add an almond flavour, but I think this is nonsense.

Ready for the oven.

If you have a blender you can make the batter in this or just use a bowl and whisk if you don’t. This should normally be cooked in a round pie dish and served in wedges. I didn’t have one, so my clafoutis is was probably a little deeper than the regular type. It also looks prettier cooked in a round dish but ho hum, you use what you have.

It’s usually served just warm or at room temperature. It’s traditionally served with whipped cream, but ice cream is also delicious.

Ingredients

For the fruit

450 Grams Cherries (fresh or frozen)

3 Tbsp Caster sugar

For the batter

100 Grams Caster sugar (plus a little extra to coat the baking dish)

4 Eggs

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Vanilla extract

200 Mil Milk

150 Grams Plain flour

30 Grams Butter (melted and allowed to cool slightly, plus extra for greasing the dish)

Method

  1. Cover the cherries with 3 Tbsp of sugar and allow to macerate for an hour
  2. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  3. Add the milk, salt, vanilla extract, and eggs to a blender and give a quick blitz
  4. Add the flour to the blender and whizz for 1 minute, before adding the cooled melted butter. Whiz for another 30 seconds
  5. Rub a knob of butter along the inside of your baking dish, and a couple of tablespoons of sugar to the dish and shake this around the dish so that it sticks to the butter. Discard any sugar that hasn’t stuck to the butter
  6. Spread your fruit across the base of the dish, and then gently pour over the custard
  7. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. To check if the clafoutis is cooked, stick a knife in the centre of the dish and if it comes out clean the clafoutis is cooked. If it doesn’t give it another 5 minutes and check again

Pissaladiere

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This dish is from the south of France, and is like a cross between a tart and a pizza.

Just warning you from the outset, this is what I would call a weekend recipe.    Some elements can take a while.  None of it is difficult but things like caramelising the onions, or proving the dough can take a while.  So I usually make this at weekends when I’m pottering around and can do things like laundry while the dough proves.

https://sunnysidefoodtravel.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_20210329_1911347856694583709994229.jpg?w=768

If you see anchovies and immediately say no way, I would recommend giving this a chance.  The sweetness of the onions, definitely tempers the fishiness of the anchovies and the combination works nicely.

If you really are anchovy phobic you can swap it for roasted red pepper, this also allows vegans and vegetarians to enjoy it (just remember to swap out the butter for olive oil if cooking for vegans or people who are dairy free).

This can also be eaten hot of cold, I love it with a cold beer or glass of wine.

For the dough

2 Tsp Dried yeast

250 Grams Plain flour

3 Tbsp Olive oil

1/2 Tsp Salt

For the topping

40 Grams Butter

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1.5 Kg Onions (Finely Sliced)

1 Tbsp Dried thyme

24 Black olives

16 Anchovy Fillets (or slices of roast pepper if you don’t like anchovies

Method

  • To make the dough, mix the dried yeast with 120 ml of warm water (not too hot or you’ll kill the yeast), leave in a warm place for 10 minutes until a froth appears on top of the mixture.
  • Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt, olive oil and yeast mixture. Mix until the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto to a floured surface, and knead for 10 minutes (or use a mixer with a dough hook, but personally I like to do it by hand its very therapeutic if you’ve had a stressful week)
  • Rub a bowl with olive oil, put your kneaded bowl of dough in the bowl and cover lightly with olive oil. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel (or I always use the little disposable shower caps you get into hotels), leave in a warm space for 1-2 hours
  • Remove the dough from the bowl and knock the air out of the dough with a light punch (like OI said this can be very therapeutic). Knead for a couple of minutes and then cover again and leave in a warm place until the dough doubles in size
  • For the topping, melt the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and half the thyme and cook over a gentle for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are dark and caramelised
  • Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (Celsius), and grease a 34 cm x 26 cm baking tray. Roll your dough out thinly to fit the baking tray and transfer the dough to the baking tray and brush lightly with oil
  • Spread the cooled onion mixture evenly across the dough
  • Lay the anchovies on top of the onion mixture in a rough lattice pattern, and the olives should go in between the diamonds created in the lattice. It’s a rustic dish, so don’t panic if doesn’t look entirely uniform
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes

Carcassonne – The Food

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Inside the walls of the medieval city there are numerous cafes and restaurants selling everything from crepes and baguettes through to fine dining restaurants.

The Occitane region enjoys a great climate and has lots of regional specialities. Truffles are found locally and are highly prized. People either love or hate them, but I adore them. Weight for weight white truffles are more expensive than gold. Most of us aren’t lucky enough to afford the fist sized truffles kept under glass cloches. However, specialist shops sell a range of products including truffle oil, truffle honey, tapenade and truffle salt.

White truffle and shaving blade
Well guarded truffles

The other main speciality of the region is cassoulet. If you haven’t had it before it’s a rich dish of white beans, duck legs, and Toulouse sausage. You can find this in pretty much every restaurant in Caracasonne. Like every peasant dish, this is made to fill you up and keep you feeling full. While it’s delicious it’s important to warn that you will probably need to lie down after eating of it, but it is good fuel for sight seeing.

Thick and unctuous, cassoulet is the perfect meal after a day’s sightseeing.

We found great little bistros that offered simple tasty food, starting at 3 courses for 15 Euros for the daily Prix Fixe menu, and were happy enough to stay with these.

Chevre wrapped in filo pastry with salad
Steak and frites

These bistro meals were usually uncomplicated with cheese, soup or charcuterie to start, fish or meat for the main and dessert or cheese to finish.

Chocolate tart
Cherry clafoutis

The area also has some great wine. We usually orded the house wine, which was affordable and very drinkable.

Tarte au pomme